A parent’s guide to social media: Part 9 – the odds and ends

In our Parent's Guide To Social Media series, we've looked at the pros and cons of different social media from a parent's perspective. But social media doesn't end at Facebook and YouTube - let's take a look at some of the new sites rising in popularity amongst kids and teens.

It’s a brave new world out there in cyberspace. A place full of Kiks and Tweets and anonymous questions. It’s also a place full of children – your children – and unfortunately, many parents don’t seem to be aware of its presence, let alone its pitfalls.

The internet is NOT a child’s playground

At the beginning of our Parent’s Guide To Social Media series, we chatted to experts on the topic of kids’ social media and internet use. Cyber bullying expert Susan McLean of Cyber Safety Solutions says, “The internet is not a child’s playground and parents need to understand that. They need to adequately parent in cyberspace and check up on what their kids do.”

Nathalie Brown, child behaviour consultant at Easy Peasy Kids says, “We need to accept that [social media] is happening and that it’s not going away. You can’t just take away all electronic devices – we need to speak to our children more about it.”

Forewarned is forearmed

Keeping your kids safe online is important to every modern parent, so we’ve put together a guide to some of the most popular social media platforms for kids right now – including the ones you’ve never heard of.

And then there’s …

One of an increasingly popular group of sites where users can create private networks, which automatically restrict who sees your updates. Path limits your friend list to 150 people, providing built-in privacy and making the experience more ‘personal’.

A mobile app owned by Twitter, Vine allows users to create and post short video clips (six seconds) that can be shared or embedded on social networking services. Less than a week after its debut, pornographic videos began appearing on the service. Pornography is not forbidden by Twitter’s guidelines. The minimum age to download Vine is 12.

Video-sharing service, similar to Vine. Whisper: Share your secrets anonymously via this meme generator. Users upload their secrets, using various photo filters and fonts to style them, and then others can ‘heart’ or respond to messages.

“It all changes so fast, doesn’t it?”

If there’s one thing parents say to each other about technology, it’s this. And it applies to social media as well. A new app called SnapHack, for instance, allows Snapchat users to permanently save anything that is shared to them. Which means the whole point of Snapchat – the self-destructing image – is kind of pointless. Kids won’t know if the person they’re Snapchatting has the SnapHack app – so it comes back to making decisions about what material is sent.

Don’t forget the basics

In the swirl of ever-changing technology, it’s easy to forget that there are some basic rules every kid needs to know before they venture online in any way.

Be careful what you share. Make sure kids, particularly when they’re starting out, know that home addresses, phone numbers, schools and other personal information is off limits online. If they’re asked for them, even at the sign-up stage for an app, they need to double-check with an adult before handing over the details.

Age limits matter. Most apps and social media platforms have an age minimum of 13. “This is a legal age,” says Susan. “It’s not decided by the app or the website, but comes out of a law in the US.” That law is the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The App Store also imposes its own ratings – and it’s worth noting the 17+ rating on Kik.

Parents know passwords. Keep track of your kids’ account information so you can keep an eye on their profiles. Let them know that your intention is not to spy, but to keep them safe.

No one else knows passwords. Remind your kids that passwords and logins are not to be shared with friends, no matter how close. If other kids can log in, there’s a much bigger chance of cyberbullying or other online trouble.

Don’t talk to strangers. While many parents have this conversation about the playground, they overlook the importance of it online. Keep an eye on the profiles of those your kids are associating with online and make sure it’s only people they know in real life. If you spot someone you don’t know, ask about them.

Which social media sites or apps do your children use and how do you monitor them?